Ethnomusicologist Etem Ruhi ÿngör, whose research in this field is known worldwide, has travelled thousands of miles over the years, from city to city and village to village in search of traditional Turkish musical instruments. Every inch of his tiny flat is filled with books and his collection of 700 musical instruments, including many whose appearance and even names are unfamiliar. As well as obscure folk instruments, his remarkable collection includes a tanbur (classical long necked lute) made in 1887 by Uzunyan belonging to Tanburi Cemil Bey, a lavta (lute) made by Kosti Ventura in 1840 which belonged to Sultan Abdülaziz, girifts (reed instruments with eight holes) which belonged to the girift player Asim Bey and the famous ney players Tevfik and Sevki Sevgin, two 18th century dulcimers, rebabs (spike fiddles made of coconut shells), and kemençes (Black Sea fiddles). An unusual metal ney (classical Turkish reed flute) is one of the most interesting pieces in the collection. (more…)

The kanun has undergone various changes since its invention. The strings used to be made of gut, but since the early 20th century nylon strings, which give a more powerful sound and are easily available in various gauges, have superseded these. The pegs used today are another recent modification that did not exist in the original instrument. Before these were introduced the musician obtained the notes he desired by pressing on the strings with the nail of his left thumb, making it a far more difficult instrument to play. Haci Arif Bey was the greatest virtuoso of the kanun in this original form in the 19th century. The next kanun virtuoso was the 20th century musician Ferid Alnar, who won a reputation as a very young man with his unusual style of playing, and was regarded as a master before he had reached the age of 20. In 1946 Alnar composed his Concerto for String Instruments and Kanun. Other celebrated kanun players were ‘Blind’ Nazim Bey, Vecihe Daryal and Ahmet Yatman. (more…)

It is thought that cymbals have been in existence in the Middle East and Asia since the first millennium BC as tiny finger cymbals. Cymbals as we know them now developed later, and were made from various metals; usually copper and tin mixed with silver, and gradually became larger and thinner using various secret processes for a more diverse range of uses and sounds. Cymbals have been used in rhythmic music when Turkish armies marched to the beating of drums and the clashing of cymbals and gongs. (more…)

Yasar Kemal is the pen name of the Turkish writer Kemal Sadık Gökçeli (born 1923, Adana). When he was five, Kemal lost his father, and had to shoulder the responsibility of providing a living for his family. From early ages onwards, he took up various jobs; he was a cotton plant worker, a night watchman, a tractor operator, and a library clerk. The library job probably had much influence on his future career in literature, as it provided him ample opportunity to read, and fed his interest in literature. In the 1940s, Kemal discovered the journal Çığ, which was published in Adana, and this became his official initiation into the world of literature. During these years, he built up an immense interest towards folk literature, and traveled through countless villages to collect tales and stories. In 1943, he published these in his first book Ağıtlar. (more…)

The novelist, reporter and politician Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu was born in Cairo, in 1889. In the beginning of 1908, he met the Fecr-i Ati group and stepped into the world of literature; subsequently in the initial years of his literary career this group would have great impact on him. Throughout his career as a writer, Karaosmanoglu wrote in a rich assortment of literary styles, which changed according to the conditions of his day. Due to his fluent command of the French language, his education in law, and his writings in the contemporary newspaper Ikdam, he became one of the prominent figures of the War Independence, and in 1921, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk invited him to Ankara. Following this, he traveled all over Anatolia, and witnessed the lives of people first hand. After the Declaration of the Republic, he was elected as a representative to the National Assembly (1931-1934). Karaosmanoglu died on 13 December 1974 in Ankara. (more…)

Peyami Safa was born on April 2nd, 1899 in Istanbul, and died on June 15th, 1961 in the same city. His father Ismail Safa Bey was one of the popular poets of the era. His uncle Ahmet Vefa was a poet, his other uncle Ali Kamil Akyüz was a writer, his elder brother Ilhami Safa was a reporter, and his cousin Behçet Kami was a writer and reporter. His father Ismail Safa Bey died in Sivas while the little Peyami was only two years old. Following this, Safa returned to Istanbul with his mother. Another major event in Safa’s life was the bone marrow disease that he suffered when he was eight. During this illness, there was question of amputating his arm, however Safa’s insistence prevented this. Following intensive treatment he was saved from the amputation. However, it would seem that the psychological effects of this disease have never ceased to haunt him. Safa has forever lived with the dread that his disease would one day repeat. (more…)

Omer Zulfu Livaneli Born in Ilgin, Turkey in 1946, O.Z. Livaneli is one of the most outstanding figures in the cultural, artistic and political life of Turkey. He achieved prominence and success not only as a writer and a musician but also as a film director. His books, compositions and films brought him national and international acclaim, and more than 30 international awards.  Livaneli’s latest novel “Leyla’s House” was published in Turkey in May 2006 and as of today it is in its 42 nd edition. His third novel “Bliss”, published in 2002 in Turkey, made 39 editions, and became almost a cult work and has been recently adapted to cinema. In 2005, “Bliss” was published in Greece and Sweden, and in 2006, it was published in France by Gallimard and in the United States by St.Martin’s Press. (more…)

Nurullah Ataç, born on August 21, 1898 in Istanbul , wrote under various pseudonyms such as Sabiha Yagizlar, Ali Gümrükçü, and Süha Kavaoglu. Ataç was twenty one years old and studying in Switzerland when he lost his father and was forced to interrupt his education and to return to Turkey . He became a French language teacher and worked in many of the prominent high schools and universities of the period. Self-taught in French, he was so successful as a French teacher, that he became the official translator of the Republic of Turkey from 1951 until his death in 1957. (more…)

Endowing money for the construction of a fountain and a water supply line to it was an act of piety which played an important role in Ottoman life. Hardly a sultan, sultan’s mother, sultan’s daughter, grand vezir, or other august personage did not endow a fountain in expression of their economic, social and political standing, and fountains became an important part of the architectural tradition. Fountains were decorative features of both outdoor public spaces like squares, and intimate indoor spaces in private dwellings, and they reflected the architectural taste and styles of their time. (more…)

A one and a half hour journey on the old Ankara-Istanbul highway takes you to a hill towards the İnözü Valley where Ankara’s Beypazari district is located. The town is divided into two settlement areas, the old and the new. The older sections of the town are situated in the northern part of the old İstanbul highway, along the deep slopes of the mountains and in valleys while the new section is situated on the plains to the south of the old highway. (more…)